Three Takeaways from Bulls-Raptors Part III: Another Fourth Quarter Collapse

The Chicago Bulls lost their third straight game against the Raptors. Markkanen, Niko and Holiday weren’t enough against one of the East’s beasts.

The Chicago Bulls (13-25) let another lead slip away in the fourth quarter last night, falling to the Toronto Raptors 124-115 at the United Center. The tank is back on for Chicago, following a false positive seven-game win streak. Chicago has now lost three games in a row, and looks to lose many more in the coming weeks. Toronto and Chicago have already squared off three times. The Raptors have won all three meetings.

After heading into the fourth quarter tied 90-90 with Toronto (now 26-10), Chicago was outscored by DeMar DeRozan and the Raptors a whopping 34-25 in the final quarter. This has become something of a trend for Chicago, who have recently (some might say suspiciously) developed a habit of letting the opposition run away from them in fourth quarters. Chicago’s current 13-25 record stands as just the seventh-worst in the league at press time. The onus is on them to lose more, lest the Dallas Mavericks and Atlanta Hawks of the world best them for the best 2018 draft odds.

Here are your three takeaways.

DeMar DeRozan, superstar, has emerged

DeRozan enjoyed a career- and Raptors-high 52 points in a win against the Bucks on Monday. Against the Bulls, he scored 35 points on 10-of-20 shooting from the field and 10-of-10 shooting from the charity stripe. Raptors All-Star now comes complete with three-point range; he went five-for-eight from deep. His defender for much of the game, Justin Holiday, had a solid offensive night at least. Holiday scored 26 points. He went seven-of-ten from the field and six-of-seven from the free throw line. 

DeRozan’s achievements fully dwarfed Holiday’s efforts, as he was able to get his shot off seemingly at will against his overmatched opponent. 

Much noise has (rightfully) been made about the Raptors’ exciting youth movement, with defensive-minded rookie wing OG Anunoby already a starter. Anunoby, though, had just three points last night. Third year guard Delon Wright was the highlight among young Raptors in the game. Wright scored a career high 25 points, to go along with a whopping 13 rebounds and five assists.

Ultimately, though, how far the second-seeded Raptors get in the East depends on how far DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry can take them. Lowry had 16 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals. The point guard’s presence on this year’s All-Star squad looks questionable. His back court mate DeRozan should probably start. Their depth is important, too, but their studs need to shine when the spotlight is brightest — in the spring.

I still don’t think DeRozan holds a candle to Jimmy Butler, for the record.

Lauri Markkanen is ready for that Nikola Mirotic trade

The Bulls rookie enjoyed one of his best games of the season, netting 22 points and pulling down 12 rebounds. The Finnisher shot a stellar 9-of-17 from the floor overall, but made just a quarter of his eight three-point attempts. The 20 year-old seven footer is averaging 14.9 points and 7.6 rebounds a night. After a prolonged slump, he’s shooting a still-lackluster 41.8% from the field, a decent 34.2% from distance, and a very good 82.9% from the charity stripe. After a few more nights like his evening against Toronto, those numbers can only improve.

Markkanen’s rookie campaign merits consideration for All-Rookie First Team honors. Ben Simmons, Donovan Mitchell, and Kyle Kuzma have all enjoyed flashier first seasons. Markkanen, though, should round out the top five newbies to make the First Team cut. 

As we know, Nikola Mirotic had Markkanen’s starting power forward spot locked up prior to having his face broken by the Bulls’ third power forward, Bobby Portis. Tonight, Mirotic enjoyed yet another great game. Threekola netted 20 points (on a mediocre seven-of-17 shooting), five boards and four dimes in just under 26 minutes. In a mere 25 minutes per night, Niko boasts averages of 18.4 points and 7.1 rebounds a game. Mirotic sports shooting percentages of 49.2% from the floor, 46.3% from three-point range, and 72% from the free-throw line. The Montenegrin would be in serious contention for Sixth Man Of The Year hardware had the Bulls not so fully embraced the tank.

Mirotic has more or less openly been courting a trade for months now, and in just 11 days his $27 million contract becomes flippable. If he keeps performing this way, he may just get his wish.

As a Bulls fan who bought a lot of Mirotic stock early on, this writer would be disappointed to lose Niko in favor of the cheaper Bobby Portis just as the latter comes into his own as a scorer. Mirotic has played better than any of us could reasonably have expected, and I know that it makes sense to trade him now for the tanking front office.

But from a pure basketball perspective, I would much rather see us trade Portis. BP still has some value as a lengthy shooter who can convincingly see time at both center and power forward. In the Raptors loss, he had just two points on one-of-seven shooting from the floor, but pulled down five rebounds in just 14 minutes of action. Also, you know, he punched his own teammate in the face. I don’t want him on a young and impressionable Hoibulls squad in the future.

Robin Lopez would work as another viable trade option. The Cleveland Cavaliers, Boston Celtics, and Milwaukee Bucks would all start him tomorrow were he wearing their jerseys. I am all-in on Chicago moving a piece to earn back one of the second-round picks they’ve traded away, but I would certainly miss RoLo and Niko.

Regardless of which front court cog gets moved by the February 8th trade deadline, last night affirmed a reality we’ve known since October: Lauri Markkanen isn’t going anywhere.

Kris Dunn can be effective even when he can’t hit the broad side of a barn.

Dunn, who straight-up stole the Bulls’ lead guard spot from Jerian Grant this fall, had just two points on one-of-six shooting across 29 minutes. But fantasy basketball wonks had to be excited by the other statistical categories the second-year Rhode Island product filled up. Dunn dished out eight assists, grabbed five boards, and netted two steals. Perhaps best of all, the still-raw Dunn had just three turnovers!

Grant, now Dunn’s backup, has quietly been rounding into form on the bench. Grant nabbed 11 points, six assists and one rebound of his own in just 19 minutes of game action.

Dunn remains the more tantalizing prospect. Like Mirotic, if Dunn had been on a better team, he would merit legitimate discussion for end-of-the-year honors. In Dunn’s case, that trophy would be for Most Improved Player. He wouldn’t win (Victor Oladipo will win). But he’d be a deserving part of the conversation.